Ozeri Green Earth Wok and Pan: Perfect for Cooking Delicious Meals

Whenever I look back  with my life when I was still  single and now that I am married and have kids, I can't believe how much I changed.  I can still remember when I was living alone in my apartment, I  never liked cooking.  But one statement that my dear Mother told me when she visited me one day,  had stuck with me, she said "When you get married, you're going to have to learn how to cook because your husband might not like  it if you don't feed him right."  So yes, the love  for cooking I have now, I owe it to my Mom.  

 I am just glad that there's Internet where I can find recipes especially for  a mixed family like mine.  I grew up  eating very different kind of foods so when I came here, I had to learn  how to make  Western food as well.  Having the right tools in the kitchen is as important as having  the right ingredients in order to cook  food that your family will like.

I am a huge fan of Ozeri  products especially their  kitchen stuff.  I love their pans because they are made out of durable heavy-gauge die-cast aluminum with no heavy metals or harmful chemicals.  It has a  comfortable heat-resistant silicon coated handle and I love that they are very easy to clean.  Now, maintaining it scratch-free is tricky, you have to  clean it  using a non-abrasive material.

I have been wanting a new wok because the  old one that I had, I got rid of it already.  I had it when we were in Korea, a friend of mine gave it to me but it has seen better days already so I retired it.  I am so glad that I got a new one.  The reason I love cooking in a wok is because, it saves  me time from cleaning  the stove top.  Whenever I use the  regular pan, the splatter of grease goes all over the stove top and it drives me crazy.  

My husband  would always  tell me that I should wait till I am done  cooking before I clean the stove because I keep wiping  it when I cook.  But now that I have the wok, that eliminated the  issue.  From the picture above, you can tell there's no grease on the  stove which made me very happy.  I also love that it is a medium size and not the biggest.  You can  buy this wok though this  link via Amazon for $37.07.

Anyway, I made  some tacos for dinner yesterday for our dinner.  I couldn't wait to use  the wok. I had to share this Taco Bell  kit that I bought, it supposed to have 12 shells but when I opened it, it only have 11 hmmnnn.  

My daughter love taco, she also love it  spicy.  I don't put the hot sauce in the meat because our son does not like spicy stuff.  We use hot sauce  on our individual taco instead.  

I don't like using taco shell  with mine.  I always just eat a taco salad.  I wish I still have the Glutino chips to scoop my taco salad.

I am loving my new frying pan as well.  I couldn't be more happier cooking delicious meals for my family using Ozeri's pan.  You can get this via  Amazon link for $27.60. 

Cooking is something that I never imagine I was going to love but I guess everything can change when you get married and have kids!  I have my Mom to thank for it, she ignited my passion for cooking.  Or maybe, I have my husband to thank as well because he loves to eat what I cook, lol!

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Celebrating Birthday with Newman's Own Goodies

On my husband's 47th birthday, the   box of goodies from Newman's Own  arrived.  Here's what he said when he came home from  work upon seeing the   chocolates, cookies, and other goodies on the table.

"Oh hon, you don't have to get all of these for my birthday but thank you, these are SWEET!"

I laughed and said "Oh it's not only for you, it's for all of us."  Then he jokingly said "Oh, I thought I hit the jackpot!"  Lol.  Anyway, here are  the  delicious  goodies that we have from Newman's Own.  

I love that their  oatmeal chocolate cookies are made of organic flour and  they are bit sizes.  My daughter thought that the oatmeal cookies  are a bit hard but it's  baked to perfection just for me.  I love my cookies a little crisp, just like  how I like my brownies to be.

The kids love the chocolate cookies more than the oatmeal cookies which was fine with me because I love the oatmeal, so more for me, yay!

These peanut butter cups are my husband's favorite.  These  peanut butter cups are made with organic ingredients as well.

I put this raspberry centers  on his lunch today, something sweet for  his snack time.  In our household, the  guys are the ones with sweet tooth.  I  like eating chocolate once in a while but I am not crazy about them.  The boys however, they have to have sweets!

I like snacking on this Hermits after my  work out.  It is also a great pairing for my ginger tea in the morning.  It is so soft and  it is not overly sweet.

When it comes to filled cookies, my kids are  the big suckers for it.  My daughter love the cream filled while  my son love the chocolate filled ones.  I thought the mint chocolate cookies are the best ones.

If you are fond of eating figs, these snacks are the bomb.  My husband love them!  These are fig and strawberry filled  cookies  that are great for snacking in the afternoon with your hot coco or coffee or tea.

We never  really bought balsamic vinegar before but after trying Newman's Own last year, we started buying them from the store.  We love  to put them in cucumbers.  I am glad,  we have another bottle although I haven't seen good  cucumbers from the store lately.

Shadow Shots

Olive oil and coconut oil re my favorite oil to use these days.  Newman's Own organic  olive oil is great for  making vinaigrette or for  cooking.

This is the very first thing she tried when she came home from school that day.

My daughter love these chocolate bars especially the  dark chocolate ones.  I used the Espresso dark chocolate for  the icing I prepared  for my husband's birthday cake.  I thought, it would elevate the favor if I used the espresso one.  I melted it with 1/4 cup of chocolate milk and it turned out really good.

My husband wasn't really expecting a cake on his birthday but it was a nice surprise for him.  My daughter didi a greatjob baking it and I helped with the  decorating part.

I love that Newman's Own   give a big poirtion of their profit to a charity, that's very commendable.  I love when company gives back through   charity donations.  They have  donated  over $450 millions through charity since 1982.  We love Newman's Own products.  I highly recommend them, especially  if you are looking for some great organic products  for your family.  You can check their Facebook page or visit directly to their website through the link I have provided above.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Heart-Healthy Baked Raised Donuts

I found this recipe  through the newsletter that SparkPeople sent me in my email.  I thought of trying it for Valentine's day.   I like that it is the  healthier variation of donuts because it is not fried but baked! Your ticker will love that these are baked not fried.  It takes  120 minutes to prepare and 13 minutes to cook. 

Ingredients

• 4 cups gluten-free flour
• 2 T yeast
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1 cup milk, warmed to around 140 degrees
• 6 T butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 t salt
• 2 eggs

For the chocolate sauce

• 12 chocolate Hershey kisses
• 1/4 cup chocolate milk
• 1/4 cup cocoa syrup

Directions

• Mix 2 cups flour with yeast, cinnamon and nutmeg
• Heat the milk, butter, and half the sugar until it reaches 140 F.
• Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, along with the eggs. Mix until smooth.
• Add more flour, a little at a time until the dough is smooth.
• Cover and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free area for an hour, until it doubles in size.
• Split the dough in half and roll each half into rectangle. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut 
• Grease two baking sheets and place the hearts on them. Allow to rise another 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375.
• Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
• Melt the Hershey kisses in a 1/4 cup of chocolate milk and add the cocoa syrup
• Dip some of the donuts in the chocolate and add some sprinkles  for some colors.

I would make this again if I am craving  for some donuts, it's a lot healthier.  My kids preferred the ones from DD (of course!) lol.  Happy Valentine's day everyone!Shadow Shots

Pre-Valentine's Day Breakfast

 My husband  bought a loaf of french bread  so I sliced half of it and prepared some bread  pizzas for breakfast.  I added bacon, romaine lettuce, avocado, and cheese.  The kids were still sick so  they only ate   a little bit.  I feel bad when my  children  are sick because they always lose their appetites.  I made a mistake of baking the romaine lettuce as it lost its crunchiness.

I made my son a banana milkshake with yogurt and chia seeds but he only   consumed half of this.  He's been talking about making a banana milkshake so I thought it would   help his apetite but  it didn't.

I never added yogurt in my milkshake but I kind of liked it, it added a nice twist to it.

Cream-Filled Brownies

The other day, I baked the box of double chocolate brownie mix that Glutino sent me this month.  I have tried many different things to prepare this gluten free brownie and so far I like them all.  

Ingredients:

• 1 pack Glutino gluten free pantry double chocolate brownie mix
• 2 eggs  
• 5 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 3 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 small pack of yogurt
• 1 tbsp  pistachio cream
• 1 tsp chia seeds

As I was preparing  the batter, I noticed the heart shape at the lid of the pistachio crram and it made me smile.

 Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 15x10 inch pan with vegetable oil. I use this pan  so the brownie will be thin.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs for 3-2 minutes.  Gradually add dry mix.  Beat to moisten.
• Add butter and stir until combined.
• Fold the nuts and chia seeds and lightly mix.
• Pour in prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.  

• Prepare the cream by mixing the  yogurt and cream cheese.
• Cut the brownie in half and  put the cream on top of the other half of the brownie.
• When you finish  putting the cream, put the other half of the bronie on top of the  creamed brownie.

It was a really nice twist.  My husband said "This brownie is the bomb!"

I wrapped the slices individually with a foil and chill it inthe refrigerator.  It lasted two days and that's me telling them "Save some for tomorrow" lol.  I must say that this brownie is nutty and so yummy!  The chia seeds and the  pecan really gave it a crunch factor. Oh yeah, it's less gluten too!

#Superbowl and Friendship Day with Gluten Free Goodies

Last Sunday was the 50th Superbowl game.  I know that a lot of  household  here in the US are football fanatic and Superbowl is a   huge  event.  I didn't watch football until I came here in America and although I still can't figure out  the rules and stuff, I love watching it.  So last Sunday, we all watched it since our son  asked if we could.

I am glad that Glutino came in such a perfect timing.  The box this month includes  seeded bread, double chocolate mix, all purpose flour, frosted pastry, pretzels, and chocolate vanilla creme.  

It's funny, we made a bet whic team is going to win.  MY husband and son rooted for the  Carolina Panthers while my daughter and I  cheered for the Dever Brocos to win.  If the guys loses the bet, they will be  washing dishs the whole week lol.  So yeah, the ladies in this house won the bet whoch means the  guys  are washing dishes, wohoo.

 I opened  the buffalo style pretzels for my husband and I.The kids wanted the  gluten free chips so that's what I gave them.  It was a perfect tortilla dippers/scoops for the  spicy salsa that we had. Glad we still have  the gluten-free goodies last month. which served as their snacks during the superbowl.

My husband made us some french toast using the seeded  bread that Glutino sent us this month and it was really good.  I am not very fond of french toast because it gets lumpy or saggy  sometimes but this was  the perfect  bread to use for it, it was really good and I love it!

During the  Catholic School Week, there was a day dedicated for the teachers.  The kids were allowed to  give small   gifts, cards, or notes to the teacher.  My kids, each grab a bag of gluten free  pretzels and gave it to their homeroom teachers.  

Lastly, my daughter baked this really delicious Amish Friendship bread last week.  My  sister-in-law gave us the recipe and she  baked it for us to try. She added  You can check out the recipe through the link.

My daughter baked Shortcut #Amish #Friendship #Bread. Perfect for national #friendshipDay . She added #chia seeds to it and used #almondMilk instead if regular #milk . Thanks to my sister-in-law for the #recipe .

A photo posted by rose (@chubskulitrose) on Feb 3, 2016 at 11:58am PST

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Shortcut Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

We visited  Dad  at my SIL's house  last Saturday.  My FIL is getting so skinny and can' recognize anyone anymore but despite that, he still hanging in there.  He is really  good trooper although I can tell that he is tired and wanting to  rest already.  Anyway, my sister-in-law, Chris let us tried her  newly baked Amish FRiendship Bread.  She gave us the recipe   so I handed it to my daughter.

When we came back home, my daughter immediately  gathered all the ingredients and tried making it.  Here is the recipe.
Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 all purpose flour, we used gluten-free 
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sp baking poweder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (4 serving size) package instant  vanilla pudding mix
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp chia seeds

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Coat two 9x 5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray
• In a large bowl,  mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chia seeds, and pudding mix; set aside.
• In a medium bowl whisk milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Stir liquid mixture into flour mixture and combine well.  Evenly divide mixture into two loaf pans.
• Bake 55-60 minutes, or until a tiithpick inserted in center comes out dry.  Let cool 15 minutes, then invert and finish cooling on wire rack.

My daughter baked Shortcut #Amish #Friendship #Bread. Perfect for national #friendshipDay . She added #chia seeds to it and used #almondMilk instead if regular #milk . Thanks to my sister-in-law for the #recipe .

A photo posted by rose (@chubskulitrose) on Feb 3, 2016 at 11:58am PST

This was a nice snack that we had, timing for the national Friendship day.  This would also  be great to give as  gift during the National Hugging Day.  So if you have someone special you want to give a hug  and a nice snack, prepare this recipe, it is so good!